Review of The Reluctant Saint

Enjoyable if not especially illuminating story about a simple minded man, Maximilien Schell, who is taken in by a Franciscan order, who eventually becomes the saint Joseph of Cupertino. The story follows him as a troubled youth living on the street, to him being taken in by the brothers, to later becoming a priest, and eventually performing a miracle by levitating. One priest, the excellent Ricardo Montalban, believes it to be demonic possession, but later accepts that it's divine intervention. Nowhere as good as similarly themed "The Song of Bernadette" or "The Passion of Joan of Arc," but "The Reluctant Saint" does feature strong performances by Schell and Montalban, which makes for a compelling drama.